It's the hope that kills you...

Today I saw the ultimate in error messages. I wasn’t doing anything particularly adventurous, just trying to play a video file. However, the error really scared me. I wish I’d taken a picture of it. The error said:

This video cannot be played. Please try again later. 

Such evil in 9 words. The video file was eminently playable, this device just couldn’t play that particular format. One of the things about computers that I like the most is the way that given the same inputs a computer will produce the same outputs. The error flies in the face of this, raising the possibility that next time you run the program it will work. I’m wondering if this is a reference to the possibility that in the future a later version of the program will be able to do it. Or that the program might learn how to do it? Or that in a parallel universe it actually does work. Who knows?

Most football fans will tell you that for a supporter it’s the hope that kills you. Hoping against all the evidence that this season will be “the one” even though you have a feeling in deep in the pit of your stomach that actually it won’t be. Perhaps this is a new trend by software developers to encourage users to keep coming back and trying again….